Plant Reproductive Ecology and Population Structure

Dear Colleagues,

Plants exhibit a diverse array of reproductive strategies that ultimately play a key role in defining geographic distributions, species boundaries, and responses to environmental change. Modern approaches to reproductive ecology can incorporate long-term demographic surveys, field- or greenhouse-based mating or pollination studies, and explicit tests of population genetic structure. However, integrative studies that include multiple modes of experimental assessment are often limited in both time and space, as a consequence of challenges associated with the completion of these physically intensive and fiscally costly projects. As a result, studies in plant reproductive ecology often represent brief snapshots in time and may not reflect a clear picture of long-term evolutionary potential in the targeted systems. While studies in plant reproductive ecology provide important baseline information for ecological theory, they also contribute to our understanding of rare species and threatened habitats, often providing much needed data for species recovery actions. Modern methods in field studies, genetics, and computational approaches provide new opportunities to explore plant reproductive ecology and population structure, and with this Special Issue, we seek to generate novel insights into what allows some plant species to persist and others to fail in the context of changing environments. We will consider papers that examine the mechanisms of plant population persistence and the ecological and evolutionary implications associated with these mechanisms. Topics to be considered will include adaptation and the importance of sexual reproduction, ramet and genet longevity, clonal growth, seed and bud dormancy, spatial genetic structure of populations, life-history constraints to recruitment, and the role of mutualisms. Of particular interest are studies that integrate multiple approaches (experiments, modeling, long-term demographic surveys, genetic analysis, etc.).

We look forward to receiving your submissions for this Special Issue.

Dr. Ashley B. Morris
Dr. Jon P. Evans
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• plant population persistence
• spatial genetic structure
• clonality
• population structure